Well, the end of November, I just finished the busiest three months Tim Rice Photo has ever had, thank you for all who were part of it. More Weddings, Senior Photos, Mini and Family Sessions than ever. Onward and upward, but a quick break first. Ray Auger will be posting in this space for the next 11 days while I am in Cuba, off the grid, still taking photos but without access to the wired world. I promise to share all my photos when I am back. Please follow Ray though in my absence – I have no idea what he has planned; it is all up to him, I look forward to catching up on the dailypic when I get home. My first vacation from the dailypic in 3349 days, but it still will go on. As for that other ‘little project’ – the new barn, Tucker Construction will be handling that one. I am excited to see what gets done while I am gone. I can not recommend Tucker Construction enough, great guys who are the best at what they do. They are making it easy to no worry about my new studio while I am gone. I am sure my family will give them directions while I am gone if the barn becomes a gourmet kitchen with a gaming room I know who to blame. Adiós por ahora, volveré pronto.

This is the week, a raising will occur, and at the end, there will stand a new barn/studio. Thanks to friends Ray and Molly for this new ornament, if we get around to a tree this year it will be fitting to add it to the collection. While we are at it since I mentioned Ray, Ray Auger the Morning Host of MyFM in Milford and frontman of many local bands will be handling the dailypic for a bit. Right after the barn gets here, a week from today, I will be in Cuba. And I have no guarantee I will have a connection to the outside world. At first, this was stressful to consider, but now I look forward to the electronic vacation. To make sure the dailypic is represented daily as it has been for many years, Ray will be handling the posts. If I can share a photo with him, he will add it, if not then you will have a guest host to make sure you are still entertained. And fear not, no matter what I promise I will be still taking at least one photo a day and sharing them when I return. But first, we barn…

It was so cold… like the sun was only working in one direction. You can tell from the photos, in one direction a warm look, in the other a blue cold cast. 17 degrees or something like that, but a great game was played, and Medway won the annual Thanksgiving challenge. I had a blast being the sideline photographer for the Medway High team this year. I hope they enjoy the photos for many years to come. Great season, glad I got to document it.

A quiet moment in the studio tonight before the mini sessions started and an old roll of film caught my eye. Holiday photos, the cold weather, wet and rainy it all trigger some memories of decades ago, my old film store, The Photo Shop. The week before Thanksgiving was the start of it all, crazy busy, to the point I often slept at the shop on a cot in the back, getting up once an hour to load the machine to print endless holiday greeting cards. Only going home to shower, change and start the cycle over before opening again. I know it does not sound like fun, but I do miss those days. Twenty years ago was my last holiday season there, I sold 19 years ago this week. A ton has changed, the industry has changed, thankfully people still come to me for photos. I am still in the memory business, and I hope I always will.

I have been taking photos of the MyFM Local Music Awards for many years, not even sure how many off the top of my head. This year due to many circumstances it was later in the year, I kind of figured it was not happening to be honest. And then it did… yesterday, and it was glorious. These two above are the ringleaders of the whole gig, and they also happen to be two of my favorite people on the planet. Ray and Molly Auger put on an award show once that reminds us how fun it is to be part of this music scene. Great people, entertaining other great people with so much talent it is ridiculous. The whole event was a highlight, but I am allowed to have some favorites right? Kelley and Ed, one play Keys the other Drums, together they did an instrumental version, (that ended up having vocals by the whole audience), of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, it was crazy good. There was pop, rock, country, yacht rock, a Who cover band that reminded me I do not listen to enough Who, humor, awards and plenty to drink for those who needed it. Thank you to Ray and Molly for putting this on over and over, and for all the others who help, Liz’s Diamond for hosting and Milford TV for recording the thing. If you missed it all, well you missed it. Don’t miss the next one.

It has been four years this week since I got the keys to my studio. It snowed that day too, today was a bit more, but snow still. Hundreds of sessions have gone through this studio in that time, with about 50 more on the books to still go. Then at the end of next month, I pack up and move to the new location. The night I looked at this place to see if it was worth renting, I remember saying to Dan, “wrong size, not the ideal layout, ceilings are too low, but I think I am going to get it.” It was the right step at the right time, served it’s purpose and will be missed. Though I am looking forward to that new barn. Foundation is in, and the build happens in 10 days. You can see the progress so far in the link below. Stay tuned for more progress reports. In the meantime, I have a few Holiday mini sessions spots open at the 243 Village St. Location, click here to see/sign up if interested.

No matter what you think about snow, you have to smile when your 7 month old Bernese Mountain Dog, who is bred for cold weather, discovers snow for the first time. Pure innocence and joy. He just sat there and watched it come down, put his tongue out to catch some, then watched it fall more. Then his sister came out and showed him how fun it is to run and jump in… we will never get him back in the house again.